Mr Bricolage Blog

The Mr.Bricolage group has recently opened 5 stores, changed the name of 6 stores and transferred and extended 8 of its current sales outlets. The group has gained total additional sales space of around 30,000 m².

Mr.Bricolage has opened 5 stores in Saint-Philbert de Grand Lieu (44), Ambazac (87), Plancoët (22), Plouzané (29) and Saint-Just Malmont (43). The first 3 are former rival stores acquired by the group (Bricomarché and Weldom). The new stores represent an additional approximate 9,000 m² including more than 7,000 m² indoor space.

5 Catena stores have switched to the Mr.Bricolage name in Daoulas (29), Douvres la Délivrande (14), Montoire sur le Loir (41), Parigné l’Evêque (72) and Quiberon (56). One Les Briconautes store has switched to Mr.Bricolage. A total of 9,600 m² including almost 8,600 m² of indoor space is affected by these name changes.

Finally, the stores in Bourgueuil (37), Villefranche sur Saône (69) and Tignieu (38) have been moved and extended. The stores in Charmeil-Vichy (03), Paray le Monial (71), Gaillac (81), Marmande (47) and Château du Loir (72) have been extended. Total extensions represent around 11,200 m² for the store, including over 6,500 m² in indoor space.

Mr Bricolage opens a new store in the Castellane district at Marseille. This store is located 10-12 avenue de Toulon in the 6th district, and covers 372 m² of sales area.

The store is part of Mr Bricolage’s strategy to re-conquer town centres. The store also reinforces the group’s presence in the local segment, in both urban and rural zones.

Early in the year, the Catena  store in Ruoms (Ardèche) switched its name to Mr Bricolage. This sales outlet includes almost 900 m² of indoor sales space and 600 m² of outdoor space. The store is currently being extended. These works should be completed in March 2011.

On 3 January, at Pont-de-Vaux in Ain, the store operated under the Les Briconautes name was acquired and the name changed to Mr Bricolage. This store includes a total sales area of 1,960 m² with 1,700 m² indoors and 260 m² outdoors.

The annual fair of the Mr. Bricolage group in Villepinte boasted record visitor figures. Although initially reserved for Mr. Bricolage, this fair later opened up to Catena stores. This year, Les Briconautes and club partners joined the event. Each store can therefore play their role in a fair where all group store names are welcome. This opening led to record visitor figures. Over two and a half days, a total of almost 7,000 individuals attended the 18,000 m² of the fair. This event also provided the opportunity to open the new hall 7 at Villepinte just after the Maison et Objet fair. This hall is the first ever High Quality Environmental standard building. This year, 358 partners and suppliers presented stands, all slightly more attractive than last year’s contributions, as is the case each year. 426 stores attended the many stands and contributed to the different conferences. Les Briconautes/Les Jardinautes claimed a large area and managed the sound and video system for the event. Mr. Bricolage presented all of its services over 550 m². The fittings service, key copying stand, and range of designer products sold in parallel on Internet were officially launched. This year’s event provided the opportunity for Mr. Bricolage to present complete collections sorted as product ranges or groups: bathroom, cupboard fittings, tiling, gate power, portable electrical tools, safety, plates and handles, letter boxes, major insulation, outdoor wood fittings, paint, light fittings and wallpaper. Many partner stands were also available for visitors. Stores were able to discover the options available in terms of energy savings and reduced consumption. They were able to extend their knowledge of sustainable development options with Recylum (collection and recycling of bulbs), Eco-System (collection and recycling of electrical products) and TFT (Sustainable wood management).

Mr.Bricolage has extended its sales space with the extension of one store and 4 new sales outlets. The five operations represent total additional sales space exceeding 6,200 m² for the store.

The store in Brives Charensac, located in the suburb of Puy en Velay (43), has recently extended its sales space. The store moved just a few metres down the road on this occasion. Indoor surface area increased from 2,800 m² to more than 4,500 m². Outdoor surface area was extended from 200 to more than 1,200 m². This extension provides more room for product display. New products mainly focus on furnishing (cupboards, bathroom fittings, etc.) and decorations, two very popular segments.

The store has adopted an unusual black façade (see photo above). This colour was selected to discretely fit into the protected site (see the web site of the Tourist Office of Puy en Velay), near to the Saint–Michel d’Aiguilhe chapel and Puy en Velay cathedral (UNESCO world heritage). An area of 35 hectares around the “haute ville” is classified as protected.

4 stores change name

The Mr.Bricolage group has recently gained ground with the integration of four new stores: Dinard (22), Nangis (77), Villers Cotterets (02) et Quillan (11). While the first three stores were originally part of the group (2 Catena and one Briconautes stores), the third was acquired from a rival store (Weldom).

The Catena DIY store in Rozay en Brie has recently switched to Mr.Bricolage. This local store with a sales area of 1200 m² can cut wood and glass, deliver material and copy keys. This store now sells all Mr.Bricolage products, which offer an excellent price to quality ratio.

The store includes 200 m² of outdoor sales area dedicated to outdoor furnishing and gardening products (garden furniture, pots, soil, etc.). The store team includes 6 members of staff, with one apprentice. The store currently offers a wide range of garden products with many plants for the garden and the kitchen garden in particular.

Your store in Rozay en Brie

Three new stores have recently switched theirCatena signs for Mr.Bricolage store name. These changes in store name are part of Group strategy aiming to take full benefit of the key store name. Around thirty local Catena stores are expected to switch their store names to Mr Bricolage this year.

The stores in Groix (Mobihan – see photo opposite), Bort les Orgues (Corrèze) and Le Guilvinec (Finistère). The 3 stores represent more than 3,000 m² in sales area.

A big opening day for the Mr.Bricolage store name. 11 stores previously operated under the Catena store name switched to Mr.Bricolage today, representing more than 15,000 m² in sales surface area.

This change in store name affects the stores in Bourg Achard (27), Crecy la Chapelle (77), Lacaune (81), Locmine (56), Montfort sur Meu (35), Pluvigner (56), Portbail (50), Bort les Orgues (19), Groix (56), Le Guilvinec (29), Saint Jean de Monts (85).

This event is part of Mr.Bricolage group strategy, taking full advantage of the key store name. This name is more well known, and has greater appeal for customers. This is easily verified, despite a flagging DIY market in recent months. Turnover for the initial Catena stores having switched to Mr.Bricolage in previous months subsequently climbed substantially

Many other stores will change name in the coming weeks.

Mr.Bricolage recently opened a nouveau magasin à Cadours (Haute-Garonne), around forty kilometres to the north west of Toulouse. Previously operated under the Catena store name, this store is the first of the many Catena sales outlets due to switch to the Mr.Bricolage store name in coming weeks.

The surface area of the store will not change with 1 200 m² indoors and 800 m² outdoors, dedicated to materials. All team members are operational to continue to serve their customers in their new outfits (see photo opposite).